U.S. U-23s Fall 2-0 to Canada in Friendly in Ft. Lauderdale

WNTDec 19, 2002

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Thursday, December 19, 2002) -- The U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team could not come back from an early two-goal defecit and fell 2-0 to the Canada Under-23 MNT at the Sunrise Hilton Sports Complex today in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Canada forward Maycoll Canizalez scored off the rebound of a Kevin Harmse shot in the game's opening minute for a quick 1-0 lead, then midfielder Sita-Taty Matondo played a give-and-go with forward Rob Friend and scored on the return pass to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead in the 20th minute.

At halftime, U.S. Under-23 MNT head coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick made six changes, but the U.S. couldn't muster any goals on their five total shots.

Goalkeeper D.J. Countess (Dallas Burn) earned his fourth cap of the year in goal, making four saves in the match.

With this being just the fourth international match that the U.S. U-23s have played in 2002, a total of eight players earned their first international caps at the U-23 level. U.S. U-20 MNT star forward Ed Johnson (Dallas Burn), who played a key role in the U.S. qualifying for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship with a goal and an assist in qualifying in mid-November, and Stanford midfielder/forward Roger Levesque were in the starting lineup, while UCLA defender Scot Thompson, who recently helped the Bruins win their fourth men's soccer title on Sunday, came off the bench at halftime.

Missing from the U.S. line-up was U.S. World Cup star Landon Donovan, who trained with the team earlier in the week but already left camp, as well as Virginia junior forward and recent MLS signee Alecko Eskandarian, who last week became the first winner of the unified M.A.C. Hermann award.

The U.S. dropped to 0-2-2 in international play this year, but will have a chance at revenge when the two countries meet again on Saturday (Dec. 21) to conclude the series.